Associate Dean for 9th and 10th Grades / Science and Technology Department Chair / Science Instructor
Bachelor of Science in Marine Science and Biology, Kutztown University
Master of Science in Physical Oceanography, University of Delaware
Ph.D. Candidate in Teaching and Learning with Technology, Lehigh University
Mr. Michael Mele joined the MMI faculty in 2010 and currently serves as the Associate Dean for the 9th and 10th grades and as the Science and Technology Department Chair. Over his tenure, he has taught AP Biology, Anatomy and Physiology, Marine Biology, General Biology, and AP Environmental Science. His courses are focused on realigning students with the natural world around them.
“Students are all too often losing touch with their surroundings. When educators demonstrate and emphasize how powerful, yet fragile our ecosystems are, students become curious and motivated. We are striving to find the balance between technology utilization while avoiding absolute consumption and it is imperative that our students understand and embrace their role and significance in the world they share,” Mr. Mele said. “Students cultivate investment in preservation when they acknowledge our environment commands respect, understanding, and attention. It is paramount that educators demonstrate the critical role students play in the delicate balance. Learning is natural, we need to make sure we don’t make it an unnatural experience.”
Outside of the classroom, Mr. Mele has served as the Advisor for the MMI Envirothon Team since the 2010 competition. In 2012, the team won the State Envirothon competition and placed 15th out of 54 states/provinces in the International Envirothon. Mr. Mele is the Lead Advisor for the Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science (PJAS) competition which promotes student interest in science through research.
Mr. Mele has also done numerous independent research projects including one with the Marine Science Consortium on Wallops Island in Chincoteague, Virginia. There, he studied channel hydraulics and bathymetric anomalies and participated in an Atlantic bottlenose dolphin research project.
“What I loved most about ‘open plan’ projects was the freedom I had in developing their processes and protocol. I had advisors that piqued my interests, procured the resources and pointed me in the right direction,” he said.
While completing his Master’s Degree at the University of Delaware, he developed his thesis: “Modeling the Fate of Blue Crab Larvae on the Continental Shelf,” by blending 3D numerical models with field data to propose a larval recruitment mechanism for the Chesapeake Bay. Mr. Mele is currently pursuing his Doctoral Degree at Lehigh University where his research focuses on what the learning brain looks like.
Mr. Mele lives in Jim Thorpe with his wife, Laurie, who is also a member of the MMI Faculty. They have three children, Gavrielle, Kai, and Keiran. Kai Mele is a member of MMI’s Class of 2020 and serves occasionally as a substitute teacher. In his spare time, Mr. Mele enjoys weight training, cycling, home improvement projects, fishing, and the outdoors.
